[Druid] Bear's 3.2/Coliseum loot ranking (UPDATED 10/5)

UPDATED: this is the list from wowhead. The primary change I made to this ranking is that I increased the value of expertise relative to everything else by about 25%. This is based on the scarcity of expertise and the importance of good threat in a few of the fights. This includes all PvP gear and gear from Onyxia and uses the ranking system from Wowhead, so the numbers are very different. Still, the order is basically the same.

Note that only the heroic 25-man drops the Regalia of the Grand Vanquisher token, and they drop only from the tribute chest at the end. No tribute chest? No 258-level tier tokens. Thus I did not list where these drop.

On tier items: because the tier piece bonuses for bears are so lackluster (the 2 piece is only threat-related, and the 4-piece is equivalent to the 4pT7), I've not included any special tier bonus here. Feel free to have 3 pieces of tier gear planned + legs and chest off-tier. Definitely don't waste your precious emblems on getting early pieces of tier gear. The bonus (at least for bears) just isn't worth it. Cats are a different matter entirely, and I'll be getting to that later this week.

In the meantime - rankings!

Back:

1. Vereesa's Dexterity/Sylvanas' Cunning - from Tribute (25) chest. 60?
   
2. Magni's Resolution/Cairne's Endurance - from Tribute (25) chest. 58?
   
3. Pride of the Eredar/Pride of the Demon Lord - heroic(25) Jaraxxus. 56.85
4. Cloak of the Silver Covenant/Cloak of Serrated Blades - Tribute (10) chest. 53.88
   
5. Drape of the untamed Predator/Cloak of the untamed predator - heroic(25) Icehowl. 53.88
6. Cloak of the Unmoving Guardian/Cloak of the Unflinching Guardian - Tribute (10) chest. 52.18
   
7. Pride of the Eredar/Pride of the Demon Lord - normal (25) Jaraxxus. 48.85
8. Cloak of the Shadowed Sun - 25-man Maexxna (among others). 45.19
9. Drape of Icy Intent - 25-man Hodir (hard) - 45.57
   
10. Titanskin Cloak - 25-man Mimiron (hard) - 45.49
11. Drape of the Faceless General - 25-man General Vezax (hard). 44.37.
12. Drape of the Untamed Predator/Cloak of the Untamed Predator - normal (25) Jaraxxus. 44.18
13. Platinum Mesh Cloak - Dalaran Vendors. 36.36
    

UPDATED: while most of the rankings stayed about the same, some of the lower ones moved around due to my valuing armor more than Rawr does. Also, wowhead still has not seen much from the Insanity tribute, so the highest of high end cloaks does not show up here. Needless to say if those drop, you should try and get them. :)

Because there are so many rewards from the tribute chest, and all of them are great, you get a lot of theoretical options - but really, you have the Jaraxxus cloak at 25 man normal, an upgrade to that later, and then potentially a couple upgrades if you manage to not wipe a single time in heroic. The upgrades in general are fairly low here; I wouldn't worry about it too much, as it's likely any upgrade at the very top will be bigger for another player.

Chest:

1. Cuirass of Calamitous Fate/Vest of Calamitous Fate - Heroic (25) Jaraxxus. 112.61
2. Malfurion's Rainments of Triumph/Runetotem's Rainments of Triumph - Regalia of the Grand Vanquisher (heroic 25). 106.85
3. Relentless Gladiator's Dragonhide Robes - arena rating, points, Koralon. 103.49
   
4. Knightbane Carapace - BoE Leatherworking via Crusader Orbs. 100.2
5. Embrace of the Gladiator - 25-man Thorim (hard). 98.54
6. Armor of Shifting Shadows/Vest of Shifting Shadows - heroic (10) Valkyr. 97.45
7. Malfurion's Rainments of Triumph/Runetotem's Rainments of Triumph - 75 emblems of triumph + 1 trophy of the crusade. 97.2
8. Cuirass of Calamitous Fate/Vest of Calamitous Fate - normal (25) Jaraxxus. 97.14
9. Malfurion's Rainments of Conquest/Runetotem's Rainments of Conquest - 50 emblems of triumph. 88.19
   
10. Armor of Shifting Shadows/Vest of Shifting Shadows - normal (10) Valkyr. 87.70
11. Conqueror's Nightsong Rainments - 58 emblems of Conquest. 86.83

UPDATED: about the only thing different (aside from the pvp ranking) is the ranking of Embrace of the Gladiator, which became slightly better than all the normal-25 mode and hard-10 gear.

The chest slot is interesting in that it breaks the pattern of other gears - unlike every other slot, a normal item is worse than the tier, but better than the tier at heroic level. This is entirely due to the extra socket on heroic, something the tier piece doesn't have. As you'll see, more sockets almost entirely determines higher quality. I would definitely not spend your 258-level token on the chest first, either; there's a craftable that's quite good, a drop in normal that's very close to as good, and it's not even best in slot. Also make sure you don't get the 232-level chest; it's about as good as the T8.5 chest. Also if you have Embrace of the Gladiator don't bother upgrading until heroic versions either.

Feet:

1. Icewalker Treads/Treads of the Icewalker - Heroic (25) Faction Champions. 79.39
2. Acidmaw Boots/Acidmaw Treads - Heroic (10) Beasts. 74.03
3. Relentless Gladiator's Boots of Triumph - arena rating, Koralon. 70.47
4. Icewalker Treads/Treads of the Icewalker - Normal(25) Faction Champions. 68.48
5. Runed Ironhide Boots - 25-man Iron Council (normal). 63.47
6. Acidmaw Boots/Acidmaw Treads - Normal (10) Beasts. 63.40
7. Footpads of Silence - BoE craftable from Runed Orbs. 61.41

UPDATED: PvP boots move up a slot, but not a lot else changes.

This will be part of a pattern for most leather items; there simply aren't that many drops from Coliseum, and the general rule of thumb is 25 heroic > 10 heroic > 25 normal >= Ulduar hard > 10 normal >= Ulduar normal. The icewalker treads are a great piece to double up on for cat and bear as the multiple sockets, high armor pen and good hit make it very usable for both specs.

Finger:

1. Band of the Twin Val'kyr/Loop of the Twin Val'kyr - Heroic(10) Valkyr. 61.80
2. Signified Ring of Binding - 25-man Onyxia. 57.43
   
3. Clutch of Fortification - 35 emblems of triumph. 56.63.
4. Runed Ring of Binding - 10-man Onyxia. 50.41
5. Band of the Twin Val'kyr/Loop of the Twin Val'kyr - Normal(10) Valkyr. 49.59
6. Band of Callous Aggression/Ring of Callous Aggression - Heroic (25) Faction Champions. 48.20
7. The Leviathan's Coil - 25-man Flame Leviathan (easy). 46.3
   
8. Band of the Traitor King/Signet of the Traitor King - Heroic (25) Anub'arak. 46.23
9. Fate's Clutch - 25-man Thorim (hard). 43.51
10. Planestalker Signet/Planestalker Band - Heroic (10) Jaraxxus. 42.80
11. Signet of Winter - 10-man Hodir (easy). 42.16
12. Keystone Great-Ring - heroic Drak'tharon Keep. 41.14
    
13. Gatekeeper - 25-man Sapphiron. 40.97
15. Band of the Traitor King/Signet of the Traitor King - Normal(25) Anub'arak. 38.47
16. Planestalker Signet/Planestalker Band - Normal(10) Jaraxxus. 38.28
17. Dexterous Brightstone Ring - 35 emblems of Triumph. 37.98
18. Mark of the Relentless - Heroic Trial of the Champion (first boss). 33.59
    

UPDATED: Not surprising, but the rings from Onyxia are very strong - with the high stamina and highest armor, they get a huge ranking. They're especially good for Anub'arak with the resistance, so definitely prioritize running Ony if you can. Also with this ranking Mark of the Relentless drops and Keystone Great-Ring rises up.

Yep, the best ring for bears comes from the 10-man hard mode, and the second best comes from badges. This is due to all that parry rating on the Anubarak ring. If I hadn't mentioned that Clutch of Fortification should be an early priority, I'll mention it again; you won't replace this until Icecrown. The Mark of the Relentless is about as good as Keystone Great-Ring, but is a good swap-out if you need the stam.

Hands:

1. Malfurion's Handgrips of Triumph/Runetotem's Handgrips of Triumph - Regalia of the Grand Vanquisher (heroic 25). 75.37
2. Relentless Gladiator's Dragonhide Gloves - arena rating, points, Koralon. 72.73
   
3. Malfurion's Handgrips of Triumph/Runetotem's Handgrips of Triumph - 45 emblems of triumph + 1 trophy of the crusade (normal 25, heroic 25, heroic 10). 68.13
4. Gloves of the Silver Assassin/Sunreaver Assassin's Gloves - Heroic (10) Faction Champions. 66.05
5. Furious Gladiator's Dragonhide Gloves - honor and arena points, 50 emblems of triumph. 62.69.
   
6. Conqueror's Nightsong Handgrips - 25-man Mimiron (easy). 61.90
7. Malfurion's Handgrips of conquest/Runetotem's Handgrips of Conquest - 30 emblems of triumph. 61.50
8. Gloves of the Endless Dark - 10-man Algalon. 60.46
   
9. Valorous Nightsong Handgrips - 10-man Freya (easy). 58.57
10. Gloves of the Silver Assassin/Sunreaver Assassin's Gloves - Normal(10) Faction Champions. 57.25
11. Gloves of the Blind Stalker - 28 emblems of conquest. 55.14
    

UPDATED: The biggest change here is the addition of the PvP gloves, right where you'd expect them. The furious gloves are actually pretty strong here, and could be a good choice for triumph emblems if you've gotten unlucky (50 emblems).

There are other options of course, but these are the more popular ones heading in that I figure people will have. And really...there aren't many choices. Despite it being the gloves this may be one of the better slots to upgrade with a Regalia token simply because there were no hard mode Ulduar pieces to upgrade from and the prior tier pieces were likely ignored in favor of others.

Head:

1. Malfurion's Headguard of Triumph/Runetotem's Headguard of Triumph - Regalia of the Grand Vanquisher (heroic 25). 106.53
2. Relentless Gladiator's Dragonhide Helm - arena rating, points. 100.04
   
3. Malfurion's Headguard of Triumph/Runetotem's Headguard of Triumph - 75 emblems of triumph + 1 trophy of the crusade (normal 25, heroic 10). 96.66
4. Stormrage Coverlet - 25-man Onyxia. 94.12
   
5. Hood of Lethal Intent/Mask of Lethal Intent - 75 emblems of triumph. 93.14
6. Malfurion's Headguard of Conquest/Runetotem's Headguard of Conquest -50 emblems of triumph. 87.49
7. Furious Gladiator's Dragonhide Helm - honor and arena points, 75 emblems of triumph. 86.98
8. Stormrage Helm - 10-man Onyxia. 86.72
   
9. Garona's Guise - 25-man Yogg (easy). 82.88
10. Conqueror's Nightsong Headguard - 58 emblems of Conquest. 79.71
    

UPDATED: The Ony helms come in below the Tier pieces largely because of the expertise on the tier piece. The PvP piece comes in again, right where you'd expect it to. Not a lot of changes here.

As pointed out by several commenters, this tier piece is one of the few leather pieces out there with any expertise. As such, it should probably be an early grab if possible. It's also one of the higher differences between itself and prior tiers/other pieces. Other than that, not a lot of specialness here.

Legs:

1. Leggings of the Broken Beast/Legwraps of the Broken Beast - heroic (25) Beasts. 110.42
2. Malfurion's Legguards of Triumph/Runetotem's Legguards of Triumph - Regalia of the Grand Vanquisher (heroic 25). 105.35
3. Relentless Gladiator's Dragonhide Legguards - arena rating/points, Koralon. 102.21
   
4. Malfurion's Legguards of Triumph/Runetotem's Legguards of Triumph - 75 emblems of triumph + 1 trophy of the crusade (normal 25, heroic 10). 95.79
5. Leggings of the Broken Beast/Legwraps of the Broken Beast - normal(25) Beasts. 94.75
6. Legguards of Cunning Deception - 25-man Yogg (hard). 94.72
7. Furious Gladiator's Dragonhide Legguards - arena points/honor, Emalon, 75 emblems of triumph. 89.06.
   
8. Titan-Forged Leather Legguards of Triumph - 40 wintergrasp marks of honor. 88.96
9. Conqueror's Nightsong Legguards - 25-man Freya (easy). 88.05
10. Malfurion's Legguards of Conquest/Runetotem's Legguards of Conquest - 50 emblems of triumph. 86.88
11. Leggings of Wavering Shadow - 39 emblems of conquest. 83.76
    

UPDATED: the PvP gear, as almost always, falls in squarely between the hard 25 and normal 25 content. The only real change is a slight swap between the 245 tier piece and the legwraps of the broken beast.

Because of the third socket the northrend beasts win the heroic battle, and because of haste vs. crit they win the normal battle (barely). Not a lot to say here; the leg slot is also kinda boring given there aren't many options, and the tradeoff is basically whether you want haste or crit.

Neck:

1. Legionnaire's Gorget/Arbiter's Muse - heroic (25) Valkyr. 66.21
2. Legionnaire's Gorget/Arbiter's Muse - normal (25) Valkyr. 56.18
3. Fortitude of the Infernal/Endurance of the Infernal - heroic (10) Jaraxxus. 49.36
4. Charge of the Demon Lord/Charge of the Eredar - heroic (25) Jaraxxus. 47.86
5. Eskhandar's Links - 25-man Onyxia. 43.47
6. Mark of the Unyielding - 10-man Kologarn. 43.29
7. Collar of Unending Torment/Collar of Ceaseless Torment - heroic (10) Beasts. 41.25
8. Pendulum of Infinity - 25-man General Vezax (hard). 41.13
9. Boundless Ambition - 25-man Kel'Thuzad. 39.66
10. Bronze Pendant of the Vanir - 25-man Freya (hard). 38.44
11. Fortitude of the Infernal/Endurance of the Infernal - normal (10) Jaraxxus. 39.02
12. Charge of the Demon Lord/Charge of the Eredar - normal(25) Jaraxxus. 38.75
13. Eskhandar's Choker - 10-man Onyxia. 38.55
    
14. Shard of the Crystal Forest - 19 emblems of Conquest. 35.21
    

UPDATED: The Onyxia necks by comparison are not nearly as strong as the rings, but they're still very solid pieces. Some small movement of older pieces due to the armor on them, but nothing too surprising. The neck is still characterized by Gorget/Muse.

If you've been following my gearing advice, you'll know that I advocate picking up jewelry as early as possible (and tier pieces as late as possible) - and this is by far the best piece of jewelry to pick up. The gorget/muse is a stellar itemized piece, and there's simply nothing really good about anything else.

Shoulder:

1. Malfurion's Shoulderpads of Triumph/Runetotem's Shoulderpads of Triumph - Regalia of the Grand Vanquisher (heroic 25). 76.77
2. Shoulderpads of the Intruder - 25-man Iron Council (hard). 76.29
3. Relentless Gladiator's Dragonhide Spaulders - arena points/rating. 75.23
4. Spaulders of the Snow Bandit/Shoulderpads of the Snow Bandit - heroic(10) Anub'arak . 71.49
   
5. Malfurion's Shoulderpads of Triumph/Runetotem's Shoulderpads of Triumph - 45 emblems of triumph + 1 trophy of the crusade. 69.56
6. Duskstalker Pauldrons/Duskstalker Shoulderpads - 45 emblems of Triumph. 69.38
7. Furious Gladiator's Dragonhide Spaulders - arena points/honor, 50 emblems of triumph. 65.22
   
8. Malfurion's Shoulderpads of Conquest/Runetotem's Shoulderpads of Conquest - 30 emblems of triumph. 62.93
   
9. Conqueror's Nightsong Shoulderpads - 25-man Yogg (easy). 61.07
10. Spaulders of the Snow Bandit/Shoulderpads of the Snow Bandit - normal(10) Anub'arak . 60.79
11. Valorous Dreamwalker Shoulderpads - 60 emblems of Valor. 59.22
12. Valorous Nightsong Shoulderpads - 10-man Thorim (easy). 58.25

UPDATED: not a change to be seen in terms of the rankings, and still the second-best shoulders are off of Iron Council hard mode. These have only increased in value as they also have expertise on them; between that, the high stamina and the amount of sockets it's really hard to go wrong.

Yep, that's still right -the second best shoulders are off of Iron Council. And for a similar reason, the third best are off of hard mode Anub'arak. It's all about the sockets. Nothing really stands out here for me, and the upgrades aren't large.

Trinket:

1. The Black Heart - the Black Night (normal 5-man). 15.4
2. Glyph of Indominability - 50 emblems of triumph. 14.8
3. Satrina's Impending Scarab/Juggernaut's Vitality - heroic (25) Faction Champions. 14.5
4. Satrina's Impending Scarab/Juggernaut's Vitality - normal(25) Faction Champions. 12.9
5. Darkmoon Card:Greatness - BoE inscription. 11.9
6. Heart of Iron - 25-man Ignis. 9.7
7. Royal Seal of King Llane - 10-man Yogg (easy). 9.3
8. Defender's Code - 25-man Naxxramas. 8.0
9. Figurine - Monarch Crab - BoP Jewelcrafting. 7.5
10. Essence of Gossamer - heroic Azjol-Nerub. 6.7
11. Eitrigg's Oath/Fervor of the Frostborn - heroic (10) Faction Champions. 5.5
    
12. Eitrigg's Oath/Fervor of the Frostborn - normal(10) Faction Champions. 5.5
    

UPDATED: no changes here, as I used rawr before for the rankings and use it now. If anything, I'd rate Glyph even more highly than before.

As always, take trinket ratings with a grain of salt; trinkets should be swapped out regularly depending on what you're facing and how. Ideally you'll have all of these. Still, the Black Heart should be on every tank's wish list; it's a stellar item that will reduce incoming damage nicely. Glyph of Indominability is basically an upgraded Defender's Code and should be bought eventually. Eitrigg's Oath looks okay, but I think it's not going to end up being as good as Black Heart.

Waist:

1. Belt of the Merciless Killer/Belt of the Pitiless Killer - heroic (25) Valkyr. 78.03
2. Relentless Gladiator's Belt of Triumph - arena rating, Koralon. 69.02
3. Belt of the Merciless Killer/Belt of the Pitiless Killer - normal (25) Valkyr. 67.04
4. Soul-Devouring Cinch - 10-man Yogg (hard). 64.23
5. Death-Warmed Belt - BoE leatherworking from Runed Orbs. 60.68
6. Furious Gladiator's Belt of Triumph - honor, emalon. 59.92.
   
7. Waistguard of the Creator - 25-man Mimiron (easy). 58.79
8. Belt of the Twilight Assassin - 28 emblems of conquest. 58.01.
9. Titan-forged Belt of Triumph - wintergrasp emblems. 53.84.
   

UPDATED: a bit of movement here; the pvp gear goes up a bit, the soul-devouring cinch from yogg-10 hard mode increases in value because of the expertise, but otherwise things stay mostly the same in terms of relative value.

It's a huge wasteland here, really. One thing you should take from this is that if you can at all hold off on getting the Twilight Assassin belt, you should - save your conquest badges or spend your money on the Death-Warmed belt instead. And once again, sockets rule the day for the hard mode item.


Wrist:

1. Armbands of Dark Determination/Bracers of Dark Determination - heroic(25) Anub'arak. 61.61
2. Bracers of Swift Death - Leatherworking BoE via Crusader Orbs. 51.81
3. Solar Bindings - 25-man Algalon. 48.78
4. Relentless Gladiator's Armwraps of Triumph - arena rating, Koralon. 48.44
5. Armbands of Dark Determination/Bracers of Dark Determination - normal(25) Anub'arak. 47.75
6. Fluxing Energy Coils - 10-man XT (hard). 44.23
7. Furious Gladiator's Armwraps of Triumph - honor, emalon. 41.59
   
8. Titan-Forged Armwraps of Triumph - 15 wintergrasp marks of honor. 40.71
   
9. Mechanist's Bindings - 25-man Flame Leviathan (easy). 40.57
10. Armbands of the Wary Lookout - heroic Eadric in Trial of Champion. 35.21
11. Wristwraps of the Cutthroat - 60 emblems of valor. 31.61

UPDATED: I hadn't realized quite how much of an upgrade the heroic piece from Anub'arak is; it's huge. The Bracers of Swift Death are great too, but

This is probably a good choice to spend crusader orbs on; wrists are often hard to come by, and they're not that much worse than the best in slot overall. Still, there's lots of other things to get first and the upgrade compared to much of the Ulduar gear isn't that high, though they're excellent for cats when the time comes. I totally spaced on the Titan-Forged gear. It's a good substituted if you don't have much better.

Weapons:

1. Relentless Gladiator's Greatstaff - arena rating/points. 147.46
2. Archon Glaive/Hellion Glaive - heroic (25) Anub'arak. 134.77
3. Lupine Longstaff/Twin's Pact - heroic (25) Valkyr. 134.11
4. Relentless Gladiator's Staff - arena rating/points. 131.69
5. Furious Gladiator's Greatstaff - arena rating/points (old). 124.53
6. Fordragon Blades/Anguish - heroic (10) tribute chest. 122.93
7. Attrition/Paragon's Breadth - heroic (10) tribute chest. 119.07
8. Lupine Longstaff/Twin's Pact - normal(25) Valkyr. 118.05
9. Furious Gladiator's Staff - arena rating/points (old). 117.44
10. Dark Edge of Depravity - 25-man Yogg(hard). 117.22
11. Archon Glaive/Hellion Glaive - normal (25) Anub'arak. 116.55
12. Origin of Nightmares - 25-man Naxxramas. 115.54
13. Reinforced Thunderstrike - 25-man Onyxia. 112.81
14. Dreambinder - 25-man Freya (hard). 110.02
15. Catastrophe/Grievance - heroic (25) tribute chest. 108.43
16. Tortured Earth - 10-man Vezax (hard). 107.16
17. Fordragon Blades/Anguish - normal(10) Anub'arak. 104.30
18. Twisted Visage - 25-man XT(normal). 101.54
19. Silvery Sylvan Stave/Staff of Feral Furies - 50 champion's seals. 99.90
20. Reclaimed Thunderstrike - 10-man Onyxia. 99.14
21. Lotrafen, Spear of the Damned - 25-man Vezax (easy). 96.83
22. Marrowstrike - Heroic Paletress in Trial of Champion. 93.19
23. Hammer of Crushing Whispers - 10-man Yogg (hard). 85.48

UPDATED: this changed a lot with using Wowhead. And pointed out that I seriously need to rethink the ranking. For instance, Reinforced Thunderstrike has good damage, high stamina and expertise, yet is ranked fairly low compared to other weapons. Origin of Nightmares is ranked way too high even with all that armor; it just can't do the damage other weapons can, and that's too important right now. I'll revisit this when I have time and redo the rankings so they make a bit more sense.

This will change with more info on the PvP gears, obviously; the top end staff has something like 230 stamina + two sockets. The top-end weapons are ridiculously close, and either would be good; get the Archon/Hellion if you favor more stam, get the Twin/Lupine if you favor more threat. Do try and leave catastrohpe/grievance to the warriors/DKs/paladins in your guild; while it's good, it's much better for them.